Dane County has operated a healthcare facility since the 1850's. When it was first opened, it was called the Dane County Poor Farm and housed people who needed care due to old age, blindness, disease, deformity, loss of limbs and insanity. In 1880 it was decided that these groups should not be housed together and the County Asylum for the Chronic Insane was built separate from the Poor Farm. The Asylum became part of the county hospital system, which was set up to provide long term care to people who were discharged from the state hospital system. In order to accommodate steadily increasing populations, the county expanded the asylum facility with several additions and renamed it the Dane County Hospital. By 1960, when the east wing was finished, the facility housed 430 residents. The facility was renamed Badger Prairie Healthcare Center in 1985. Today, the facility is licensed for 130 residents. All of the original buildings have been demolished.